It has been observed in connection with prior art liquid-filtered smoking devices or water pipes that due to the variance in the pressure prevailing within the devices during, for example, the inhalation and exhalation operative periods, or during inhalation and non-inhalation operative periods, the water within the pipes tends to surge and splash. As a result, as prior art smoking devices are normally provided with conventional two-point cut-type seals, the water within such devices tends to leak out therefrom within a relatively short period of operative use.
More particularly, as may be appreciated from FIG. 1, a smoking device container 12 is provided with a conventional two-point, cup-type seal 14 which is disposed upon the lower, open end of container 12 so as to retain a liquid within the container. Seal 14 is considered to be a two-point type sealing means because the seal only contacts the container 12 along two major surfaces, that is, along the bottom, peripheral edge 16 defining the lower, open end of container 12, and along the lower, outer peripheral side wall 18.
As noted hereinabove, as a result of the variable pressures prevailing within the smoking devices, the bottom wall of the seal 14 tends to periodically separate from the peripheral edge 16 of container 12 with the result that the liquid contained within container 12 is forced into the space defined between peripheral edge 16 and the bottom wall of seal 14, such pressures acting, in effect, as a pumping means. Under continued use, the pumping pressures continue to force the liquid into the defined space whereby the liquid is eventually conducted upwardly between the peripheral side wall of the seal 14 and the peripheral side wall 18 of container 12. The liquid ultimately leaks out from the sealed lower end of container 12, as a result of which, the environment surrounding the liquid pipe becomes wet. Such results are obviously undesirable and render such prior art smoking devices, provided with such conventional seal means, commercially unacceptable.